Fotoreporter Sirotti
Here are some morsels for your Monday:
1. This just in: Team Lux is rumored to be starting the 2011 season in neutral jerseys. Apparently the Schlecks don’t quite have their ducks in a row yet. While it is yet to be confirmed, no matter how you spin it, this is not a good sign. And if it is true, how can the UCI allow it? Call me crazy, but I see a Team Radio Shack/Team Lux merger on the horizon—if not for 2011, 2012 for sure.
2. Last week’s What’s New over at Competitive Cyclist raised a notion I’ve been bouncing around with friends for quite some time now: if the UCI and WADA really wanted to put an end to doping (or at least the he said/she said/he ate/she ate games currently plaguing the sport), it would consider offering amnesty to everyone to have ridden up to a certain date—and lifetime bans to anyone testing positive (after a due process, of course). We need to end our ceaseless obsession with what happened in the past and concern ourselves with cleaning up the sport’s future. Amnesty takes the teeth out of former pro’s hoping to win one last bit of fame by outing themselves or their peers, while lifetime bans might make even the most hardened dopers think twice before doing it. And as hard it might be to offer clean slates to some (Rasmussen, DiLuca, etc…), the ends might more than justify the means. That’s my two cents.
3. That said, the Armstrong investigation appears to be heating-up even more.
4. Hindsight’s 20/20—right Matti? Seriously though, if Breschel can’t heal in time for the next year’s Classics, we’ll all miss-out. Will Breschel be in 2011 what Heinrich Haussler was in 2010?
5. And speaking of Saxo, where will they be after losing so many UCI points? Could a Contador suspension spell the end of the team’s high UCI ranking?
Moving on…
6. Paolo Bettini is getting an early start on downplaying Cav’s chances at 2011 Worlds in Copenhagen.
7. Pegasus is one “new†team wishing it would get a few less breaks as it heads into 2011. (Sorry, the pun was too good to resist.)
8. Sky is going to refocus for 2011, deemphasizing the Tour de France. While some might want to point the finger at Pavé for its steady stream of Sky/Wiggo criticism, it should be noted that we’re not the only ones on the bandwagon.
9. Finally, we should have our 2011 kit finalized by the end of next week. We’ll be sure to post the first look here—with prices of course. For now, feel free to add your name to the list to be the first to know when updates arrive.
Have a great week!
I was saying the same thing to my buddies earlier this year, about the Team Lux/RS merger. When they announced they were using Treks and Johan didn't seem to be going after any TDF heavyweights, I got suspicious. We shall see….
The loss of Radioshack after the end of the 2011 season seems liklely I'd have thought, I'm not sure Bruyneel or Riis will have enough riders of quality depending on what happens with Contador to run teams past 2011 which given their alleged involvement with all sorts of things and Riis's admissions is perhaps no bad thing.
The Lux Project, well the UCI is obviously convinced they have the resources in place to pay for a season and unless they're relying totally on funding from benefactors, that almost means that some sponsorship is sorted I'd have thought. This to my eyes is all really cleverly planned PR, the team is already never off of the front pages of most cycling websites and that's without a name, whoever sponsors them is going to be getting a great return if that sort of coverage continues!
Interesting about Mati. He had some of the rides of the year this past spring, and he definitely animated those races. Great to watch.
Rabobank? Man, that's got to have been a tough decision. Take the money while it's there, sacrificing crucial team support, or stay and remain second fiddle.